Vacuum cleaner



Sept. 14, 1937.

F. RIEBEL, JR

VACUUM CLEANER Filed Sept. 18, 1936 ZZ ZS ,30 Z7' INVENTOR tz/tedwc BY Pag@ Patented Sept. 14, 1937 VACUUM .CLEANER A Frederick Riebel, Jr., Toledo, Ohio, assignorto Air-Way Electric Appliance Corporation,

Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware l Application'September 18, 1936, Serial No. 101,455

7 Claims.

This invention relates to vacuum cleaners of the type in which a paper dust collecting and air filtering bag, carried by the cleaner handle which is hingedly attached to the body of the cleaner, has its neck coupled to the fan -case outlet by means of a ilexible tube delivery end of which is constrained to move in unison with the handle so as not to impose strains upon the' bag. This general construction is shown in my pending application Serial Number 626,682, led July 3,0, '19.32, ofwhich application the present application consttutesa continuationin part.

The primary'object of the present invention is to improve upon this'type of construction so that ninety degreeswithout being interfered with by the ilexible'tube connection. AThe object is attained generally by providing a sliding joint in the handle between the axis of hinglng movement and the point where the flexible tube is at tached to the handle.

A further object of the invention is to. provide an arrangement in which the ilexible tube con-- embodying,'thezinvention,

Fig. 2'Yis a pl'an'view of the same, and Fig. -isa side elevation of a the. invention. l Y w I have used-the yreference character III to indicate a suction chamber'whl-ch. begins with a suction-mouth IIl and terminates in a pair of elbows I2- communicating with the opposed inlets of a belt I1, and drives the impeller of the fan I3 by means of a belt I8.

The foregoing elements Vconstitute the body wheels I9 and adjustable rear wheels 2D.

Thehandlegcompri'ses a handle. shaft 2-I and a bail 22, the latter being hinged at 23 to' the body of' the cleaner near but not necessarily directly at the outlet 24 of the fan I3.

The handle shaft 2I is slidably'attached to the bail 22 bffrneans of the shank 25 of the bail, which shank "extends into the lower end of the handle shaft 2I-,th'el latterbeing tubular. A pin @o 26 mounted in the shaft 2l extends through a slot the handle may be moved through a range of Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a vaccum cleaner` modication of d ofthefdual fan I3. A motor I4 drives a rotary' agitator I 5A in the agitator chamber I6 by means`- ofthe cleaner which is' supported upon front 28 which includes a pair of laterally projecting ears 29, the outer ends of whichhave sockets to The lower end of theshaft 2| carries a fitting receive hooks 30 mounted in thebag supporting rods 3l of the paper bag enclosing envelope 32.

The -envelope 32 may be of cloth, knitted fabric, or perforated composition material. The upper ends .of the rods'3l are received in keepers 33 slidably mounted in brackets 34. in the handle shaft. The handle proper 35 has the conventional switch and conductor assembly 36.

A bracket 31 rigidly attached to the handle 2I,

secures the free end of a flexible Atube 38 which at its lower end is attached to the outlet 24 of thcfan I3; The paper bag 39 is supported in the envelope 32 and has in one side Ian oil-set forming a neck 40 which ls'secured in a-coupling 4I..n

carried-by the bracket 31 on the upper end of the .tube 38 and communicates with the latter.

If desired, a substantial length of tube 38 could be allowed to project between the bracket 31 and the coupling 4I. An important' feature of the construction is'that the bracket 31 be attached to the tube 38 between the coupling 4I and the `outlet 24 sogas to constrain the upper end of the tube to move in unison withthe handle. As a matter of practical construction4 it is preferable to attach the coupling 4I 'directly to the bracket 31, and, if desired, the coupling-4I could be allowed to project entirely through the bracket 31 andthe tube -38 receive its connection -to the handle through the medium of the coupling 4I.

The upper ends of the side walls-of the envelope 32 -are detached from each other to form anopenable mouth inthe envelope and to .allow the tube.38 to freely project into the envelope, and -to ex as the handle is moved to the upstanding lposition' shown in dottedlines. y As the handle is moved to such upstanding position the shaft 2l will'telescope on the. shank 25 until lthe fitting '28 reaches the shoulder of the baill 22.

This allows the entire assembly to move to theopstanding position without forcing the tube 38 tofbuckle-unnecessarily.Q The parts are so arranged that the tube may assume the natural curvature which i'sdemanded by the rigid attachment of itsrespective ends to the outlet24 i .and bracket 31 respectively without being placed A N under longitudinal distension.

Thus it is possible to place thev axis of the I the paper bag is located approximately halfway between-the upper and lower ends of the bag. Suilicient space is left between the neck and the upper end of the bag to allow the discharge 5 from the tube 38 to freely enter the bag without choking, and yet the entrance is at such a position that more than three-fourths. of the area of the bag lies below the level of the inlet neck.v Thus while. the cleaner is, operating in normal position, the dirt will drop into the pocket which is formed by the lower region of the bag and the accumulated refuse will in no way interfere with the entrance of new dirt into the bag unless the bag becomes almost completely lled, which, l5 of course, is a condition that is not supposed to be allowed to attain; When the handle and bag assembly are raised to the upstanding position shown in dotted lines sufcient area of the bag will still remain below the level of the inlet so that under normal conditions the collected refuse will not fall back down the tube 38 into the fan case, a condition which is to be avoided.

.The arrangement of the inlet neck 40 parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bag makes it possibvle-for the handle and bag assembly to reach the upstanding position shownl in dotted lines without distortion of parts.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 3 the bail 22a. embraces the lower region of the tube 38 and its upper end forms a. sleeve 22D in which the lower end of the handle `-`shaft 2| is slidably mounted.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a vacuuml cleaner, a body unit including a fan case, a handle hinged to the body unit, a

ltering and collecting bagcarried by the handle and having an inlet neck, a flexible -tube connecting the fan case outlet to the inlet ofthe bag, means rigidly connecting the upper end of the tube to the handle, constraining it to move in unison with the handle, and a longitudinallya slidable joint in the handle located between-the point of attachment of the upper end of the tube to the handle andthe axis of a hinged connection' ltering andcollecting bag carried by the handle and having an inlet neck, a exible tube connecting the fan case outlet to the inlet of the bag, means rigidly connecting the upper end of the tube to the handle, constraining it to move in unison with the handle, and a longitudinally slidable and non-rotatable joint in the handle located between the point of attachment of the l upper end of the tube to the handle and the axis of hinged connection of the handle with the body unit.

3. In a vacuum cleaner, a body unit including a fan case, a handle hinged to the body unit, a filtering and collecting bag carriedby the handie and having aninlet neck, ailexible tube connecting the fan case outlet to the inlet of the the tube to the handle, constraining it to move 'in unison with the handle, and a longitudinally to the handle and the axis' of hinged connection of the handle with the body unit, said collecting' b ag being of vporous paper, and a reenforcing l bag, means rigidly connecting the upper end of envelope enclosing said paper bag, the upper i'egion of said envelope being rigidly attached to the handle. A A

4. In a vacuum cleaner, a body unit includ- `ing a fan case, a handle hinged to the body unit,- a. filtering and collecting bag carried by' the handle and having an inlet neck, a exible tube.

connecting the fan case outlet to the inlet of the ba'g, means rigidly connecting the upper end of the tube to the handle, constraining it to move in unison with the. handle, and a longitudinally slidable joint in the handle located between the vpoint of attachment of the upper end oi' the tube to the handle and the axis of hinged connection of the handle with the body unit, said inlet neck being located substantially halfway between the upper and lower ends of the bag, whereby said flexible tube is of sufficient length to allow the handle to move through an arc of ninety degrees and whereby a major 'portion of the bag normally lies below said inlet neck.

5. In a vacuum cleaner, a body unit includ- `ing a fan case, a handle hinged to the body unit, a lterlng and collecting bag carried by' the handle located between the point of attachment of the upper end of the tube to the handle and the axisl of hinged connection' of the handle walls the upper regions of which are detached to provide an openable mouth to receive the paper bag.

k6. In a vacuum cleaner,l a body unit includ-v ingga fan'case,. a handle hinged to the body unit, a ltering and collecting bag carried by the handle and having an inlet, neck, a flexible tube connecting the fan case outlet to the inlet of the bag, means rigidly connecting the upperend of the tube to the handle, constraining it to move in unison with lthe handle, and a longitudinally slidable and non-rotatable joint in the handle located between the point of attachment of the upper end of the tube to the handle and the axis of hinged connection of the handle with the body unit, said envelope having. side walls the upper regions of which are detached to provide an openable mouth to. receive the paper bag, said side wallsbeing at the lower end of the bag de'v tached to a suillcient depth to allow said flexible tube ,to freely fle'x when the handle is raised to an upstanding position.

7. In a vacuum cleaner, a fan case having anv upwardly and rearwardly inclined outlet, a handie pivoted with respect to the fanL case and ex- Atending normally upwardly and rearwardly, a

porous paper dust collecting bag carried by the handle, said bag having a neck located intermediate its forward and rear hends, a flexible tube connected at one end to said outlet and at its other end to said neck, and means attaching said other end to the handle so as to constrain the tube to Vmove in unison with the handle andto .with the body unit,vsaid envelope having ,side

relieve strain upon the bag, said tube being of such length as to allow the handle to move- 

